Shin stared at the simple walled village from a distance. A few hundred buildings and twice as many people, the first of whom he’s encountered since the tutorial, though he did find them by spotting a few residents returning after a hunt. He eyed the guards standing atop the walls and donned the wooden mask he recently obtained, the color of his clothes and body shifting to roughly match his surroundings.
The moment a guard’s sight shifted opposite his he sprinted forward in a crouch, quietly and carefully, keeping track of the guard’s line of sight. Through the field of wild grain and with a sudden burst vaulted over the wall into the town proper, none the wiser. Shin glanced around then walked to the area of most activity, his form returning to its true colors.
Shin toured through the small village, taking his time. The buildings were wattle and daub of varying types but seemed well crafted, quite a few even being two stories, and the streets were firm ground dotted with large circular stone tiles. Nothing compared to vast cities of imagination but an impressive accomplishment in only five days.
Shin made his way into the village square. Most of the residents were out and about, talking and trading. Stalls lined the streets and signs hung from buildings and workshops. Shin glanced at one such stall run by a bored old man and headed over. As Shin caught his notice, the stall peddler glanced the masked stranger up and down.
“Only sell inscription items here. What you need?”
“Uncommoner tier talisman slips and ink.”
“Ain’t nobody got that… You above Novice?”
“No.”
“Then what’chu… No, nevermind. Just got common stuff if you want that.” The man started placing samples of his wares on the stall, all basic material Shin was quite familiar with.
“Who built the village?”
“No one. Was here when we got here. First ones found it empty. Beats spending the night outside with the monsters. How much?”
“All the paper and ink.”
“...2 silver coins. You got that much?”
Shin took out one of his gold coins.
“Wha-” Before the man could say more than a few words, Shin darted away to a commotion in the center.
“Do your job as a servant and take us to mother!” A young boy yelled.
“I ain’t your fucking servant and I sure as fuck ain’t doing shit for two fucking brats!”
“You will if you don’t want the Igarashi to kill you in your sleep.” A young girl warned.
“Then better for me if they don’t find out!” The spindly man blurred in a burst of speed and recoiled with a shriek, one hand less than usual.
The blond haired boy pointed a bloody dagger at the rest with a cocky grin. “Who else wants to disobey the Igarashi?”
“What are you doing?”
The boy startled and jumped over to the girl, both on guard against the masked stranger that snuck up on them.
“Who are you?!”
Shin seemed to remember something and took off his mask.
“Shin?” Ko and Kei’s expressions of alert were replaced with shock.
“What do you-”
“How did you get number 1?!” Ko interrupted her.
Shin inspected the twins. Both Greater Peasant and uncommon tier, Ko a Striker in rogue type armor and Kei a robed Illusionist. “What number did you get?”
Ko clicked his teeth and didn’t respond.
“You didn’t get on the list?”
“Shutup! You cheated!” Ko changed his stance. “Kei!”
Ko burst past Shin as Kei disappeared where she stood. The boy stepped into a shadow cast by a building and sank into it. Shin felt a strain on his mind that he easily dismissed as Ko burst out of his shadow behind him. Shin spun under the lunging dagger and kicked Ko into a yelping empty space. The twins fell to the ground, Kei turning visible once more. They startled again realizing Shin crouching down right in front of them.
“Some players and monsters can see through invisibility. Look at them to figure out if you’re actually hidden. Don’t just sit back and think your first move will work. Follow up with Ko and attack at the same time.” Shin directed at the girl before turning to the less receptive boy. “You’re too impatient and underestimate your opponents. You fell for the fake opening because of that. Make sure the kill you see is real. If you were fighting someone serious, you’d be dead.”
The twins flinched, partly because they knew Shin was stronger, partly because he had never spoken so much or so bluntly towards them.
“You said something about mother?” Shin changed the subject.
“...that man said there’s a village with mother’s name. She gave him items to tell other villages about it, but he won’t take us back there.” Kei answered as the stubborn Ko kept silent.
“Where is it?”
“Somewhere that way.” Kei pointed.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” The man spoken about with a bloody stump of a wrist lunged towards them and a knife flew through the air and sunk into his forehead.
“I’ll take you there.” Shin told the reluctant twins as he rested his arm back in place.
---
The trio of siblings ran across the field further north at a quick and steady pace. It had been half a day and the twins were keeping up without a word of complaint. They were only kids but there were still Igarashi who had started training, though complaints were hardly the only thing they had in their arsenal.
“Hey, demon.” Shin showed no sign of response. “Stop ignoring me! Stupid Shin!”
“Hm?” Shin glanced back nonchalantly.
“Why doesn’t Identify work? You cheating again?”
“I’m higher rank.”
“How?!”
“Thousand stat point total.” Ko’s attention turned in front of him, no doubt doing some quick addition.
“Max four rare tier skills to get a rare tier class.” Shin added for their benefit.
“If we were rare lords, we could kill you easy!” Ko snapped back, unhappy after checking his stats.
“You have to get there first.” Ko’s face flushed with frustrated embarrassment but he didn’t respond. Shin glanced back at the now quiet Ko and the girl who had been quiet for a while now. “Did you start in the same zone?”
“...yeah.” Ko answered. “We couldn’t find anyone else. Kei said there were a lot of different zones. But no one could beat us when we teamed up. Everyone was super weak.”
“How did you kill the boss, then?”
“Boss?”
“There was probably a boss for each stage. You didn’t get on the list because you didn’t beat it.”
“We’ll kill the next one…” Ko muttered.
“Was the boss strong?” Kei finally spoke up, quietly.
“Yeah.”
“...only Mother and Yuna and Grandpa were on the list. Everyone is okay, right?”
“Yeah.” Shin couldn’t know for sure but they were all capable enough. His father could at least stay alive.
“Of course they are.” Ko told Kei.
“Mm.” Kei’s concerns seemed to be relieved a little by the affirmation. “It’s really mother’s village right? What if it’s a trap?”
Ko couldn’t find the confidence to answer but Shin was there. “Yeah.”
There wasn’t no chance it was a trap but it was very unlikely. No other clan would try something so specific this early on, and it’s too high risk low reward for a member of the clan. Shin had checked his surroundings from the tallest tree after the first stage ended and by the distance he could see before the horizon, this world was much bigger than earth. The village they just left had a diverse mix of people, so the players were likely scattered all around at random. The siblings could be anywhere so betraying the clan for a shot in the dark by using their mother’s name would be quite stupid.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Shin noticed Kei starting to show signs of fatigue, her stats as a caster type likely not geared to the physical, and slowed his pace a little. There was five days left in this break between stages and the trip would only take two. They’d at least have the willpower to maintain this speed throughout. That would give him time to do a little more exploring.
---
An arrow struck a beast before it even sensed them coming, loosed from a fully drawn bow, Shin’s stride not affected in the slightest.
“How do you keep seeing them?” Ko asked, somewhat annoyed.
“Spirit eyes.” Shin glanced back at Kei who was starting to struggle. “Need a break?”
“Shut up, I can run!”
“Okay.” Shin returned his focus to scouting around as Kei started to open her mouth but couldn’t find the words, seeming a little regretful.
A human figure appeared in the distance. Shin debated for a moment about what to do before the person threw something into the air that exploded with a loud boom and lingering dazzles. Shin blitzed forward and pinned the man down, a red dagger pressing against his throat.
“Why did you do that?”
“M-my job, just signal if I see someone, make sure your not bandits or-”
The man screamed as an axe took his hand, wreathing on the ground in pain, forcing himself to stay still as his neck pushed into the dagger enough to draw blood, reminding him of his position. “Boss is looking for clan types. People with special powers. I’m just doing what they said, fireworks if I see asians. Don’t kill me, I can-”
The dagger sliced deep into his throat as soon as anything important stopped coming out of his mouth. Shin rose as the man grasped his neck overflowing with blood.
“Keep up.” Shin told the twins as he broke into a sprint.
He ran as fast as they could follow behind but it wasn’t long before a wave of people convening on their location from out in front came into his sights, spanning a wide net across. It wouldn’t be a problem if it were just himself, but it was too risky to lead the twins into a battle. Shin strained his arms to draw arrows as deep as his longbow would go and took out anyone holding a bow as he led the twins to the thinnest side of the encirclement.
“Can you make other stuff invisible?” Shin asked Kei.
“Yeah.”
Shin scattered a bunch of talismans on the ground behind him as he burst forward, slaughtering their side of the encirclement. Kei snapped into realization and cast a thin blanket over the talismans that became almost indistinguishable from the ground itself. Shin slaughtered the last and rushed over in front of the twins as the horde of players caught up, standing ready and armed at a short distance as two men made themselves prevalent. One a fair skinned red haired man with golden eyes, tall and lean, the other a graying old man with a thin mustache with a sharp face.
[Human Brute (rare) - Lesser Lord]
[Human Shadowstriker (rare) - Lesser Lord]
“Did you name the village?” Shin asked.
“I didn’t have to. Lady Kurenai went and did it herself. All I had to do was wait around to catch the fish that jump into my hands.” The thin mustached Igarashi member answered. Shin didn’t know or care for his name but he recognized his face.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Grandfather will kill you!”
The man’s face changed into one of subdued contempt. “Main family brats who know nothing of the world should keep their mouths shut.”
“Selling to the Atreus?” Shin asked.
The Igarashi man smiled at Shin. “I’ve been promised a good deal for delivering members of a clan, especially if they’re of a good lineage. I was quite surprised when I saw your name on the list, young master Shin. It was hard to believe the sickly black sheep of the clan would excel even more than the old tyrant but I know of only one person in murim who goes by that name alone after all.”
The man exuded a smiling seriousness. “You must be quite strong now, but you surely know the ones around Lord Garland and myself are unlike those riffraff over there. There’s no need to die here. The illustrious Atreus would certainly offer you a seat of great importance in their house, if you accept their terms…” He eyed the twins.
“No.”
The man’s smile fade. “The Atreus values talent. They will accept you gladly, there is no reason to stay loyal to a clan that has treated you like a stain on their clothes.”
“Don’t wanna.”
The man grew more frustrated. “You don’t even carry our name, is that not a sign you have no love for the clan?”
“Yeah.”
“Then at least hand over those two and we will let you go.”
“No.”
“I know full well you have never been close. They treat you just like the rest, why do you insist on throwing away your life for them?!”
“They’re nine.”
“...is that so? Then die.”
The goons charged forward and Shin detonated the talismans, bringing a short wall of flames around them. The Igarashi man blurred through the weak flames at and froze midair, Inari taking his head from his paralyzed body. The merciless pair massacred the slightly stronger goons with little more difficulty than the first group.
Inari charged through the carnage and swung her sword at the red haired man, but it stopped on his bare hand without making the slightest mark. She froze his body with a paralyzing glare and blitzed around him in a frenzy of slashes, every one them having no effect.
Garland stood tall as the glare wore off, his stoic expression of unyielding arrogance unchanged from the moment he stepped to the forefront. “Worthless.” He glanced around the field of dead pawns who failed to fulfill their purpose.
“We will not accept you inferiors. You will merely serve to make our blood stronger, nothing more. All will bow before the house of Atreus.”
Shin and Inari burst against the barbarian, a medley of skill and attacks doing nothing but moving his body around slightly. The Atreus man drew a club and slammed it into Inari, the protection around her shattered as she crashed along the ground even with her blocking it in time. Shin darted back to avoid a swing aimed at his legs.
“You will lose no matter how much you struggle.”
Shin showed no hint of concern, having tested himself against a lesser lord elite player sufficiently. “Keep the fire burning over his head.”
Garland turned, sensing something on instinct as grayish blue fire struck his face and wrapped around his head. It burned fiercely, yet no damage nor pain arose from the man, not even a singe on a strand of his head.
“Pointle-” The man’s words cut off as a hint of panic found his body language. He tore and struck at the flames to no avail. His head jolted around, eyes searching for something through the flames, and burst towards the river. Shin caught his arm and tripped his legs, flipping him to the ground. He jumped back as Garland lashed out his arm and rose to his feet, only for Inari to kick him away.
Fiercely he struggled at first but soon his attempts to reach water lost their vigor. He fell to his knees, clutching his throat in futile struggle and collapsed, his body soon falling limp. Inari let the trickfire burn its full course until it fizzle out, leaving behind the indestructible Atreus, suffocated to death.
Shin rummaged through the spatial bags and worn gear of the Atreus and Igarashi men before returning to the twins. “Okay, let’s go.”
The twins didn’t move, looking a bit down.
“What’s wrong?”
“...do you hate us?” Kei asked, teary eyed. Ko expression turned a bit more ashamed.
Shin glanced at them both then crouched down and placed a hand on their heads.
“I don’t hate you.”
The twins wiped their eyes through suppressed sniffles, seeming a bit better. Shin rose to his feet.
“Come on.”
---
Shin stood with the twins overlooking a village from a distance where he barely make out people’s faces.
“Don’t go in. Tell the guards who you are and to tell mother you’re here.”
The twins stalled.
“I’m sorry for being mean to you…”
“...sorry…”
“It’s okay. Go on.”
They paused for a moment then rush off towards the village gate. Shin watch them for a moment then put on a a simple wooden mask and dashed off. Through the forested area near the village he ran, jumping up a tree and stopping on a branch closer to the gate than he started, watching the twins arrive. They stopped for a few moments outside and one of the guards ran off.
“Who are you?” A stern voice from his side commanded to know.
A woman with long cerulean hair stood atop another tree of the same height, wearing a red oni mask covering the bottom half of her face and wielding a truesteel katana. Shin didn’t respond. He had seen her before she did him and identified her already. The greater peasant duelist didn’t ask a second time, lunging straight at him, her slash blocked easily by an appearing fox warrior.
“Don’t kill her.”
The oni masked warrior fended off Inari will everything she had as the white fox upheld Shin’s request to a relative minimum, toying and punishing the person who dared to strike at her bondholder. Shin paid no mind to the desperate struggle of the guard, focusing on the twins.
It wasn’t long before a woman appeared with black hair and crimson eyes, seeming to be in her early thirties. The twins leapt into her arms and she held them tight. Shin rose from his crouch. There was no illusion of any kind. She was genuine which meant his job was done.
Haru slid back from Inari’s press and held her sword in a drawing stance, channelling a skill. Identify didn’t work on this person either. The foxed masked woman was strong, strong enough to toy with her like a child. She couldn’t allow these strangers to threaten her mistress, even if she had to give her life to take them down with her.
She tightened her grip and planted her feet, and the wooden masked man stepped behind her before she realized, her movements paused for an instant.
“Let’s go.”
The man darted off and the fox women followed leaving her behind at a speed she knew she couldn’t match. With that, she dashed back towards the village to shore up its defenses. Shin glanced at Inari. He hadn’t planned on spending the mana but he had and she would be out for a few hours now.
“Let’s find some monsters.” He didn’t mind taking a detour.
---
The man stood a towering seven feet tall with the rugged honed body of a warrior, lightly tanned skin with flowing brown hair and brown eyes, he donned only a fur and leather loincloth and the pelt of a bear, wielding a club befitting a hero. Beside him laid the body of an orc, dead and broken, and in the distance he looked towards a boy with long black hair standing casually.
“Shin.”
“Tiago.” The lesser lord brute greeted back after a moment’s pause.
“Join my party.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I will journey with no one weaker than me.”
Shin thought about fighting but restrained himself. The second stage was about to begin and he wanted to face it with full mana.
“Wait here after the second stage. I’ll come back.”
With that Shin sped off towards his dungeon. He wanted to check on it before he left. It took just a quarter of an hour but when he arrived, he noticed a horde of familiar footprints scattered all over the entrance, and jumped in without pause.
“Kill them you worthless fools!” Flutter screamed at the top of her lungs, as she cast befuddle at another hobgoblin invader. The gnoll savage and redcap butcher hacked and sliced away by the hobgoblin horde continued to press them back, its chieftain sneering at the prize soon to be in his hands.
Flutter cursed him. She cursed the madman who put her here. She cursed her foolish mother for sending her outside. She cursed this wretched world for ever giving her hardship of any kind at all. The redcap and gnoll fell and her enemies bounded towards her.
As the hobgoblin raised its axe, she wished a death worse than hers upon that bastard of a master, and an arrow pierced its skull. Most continued their charge, some turned towards back towards the twang of a bow and the smell of blood, and all met the same fate. Flutter stared out at the dead dungeon once again, the black headed human standing among the severed chieftain and its guards with a sword and axe in hand, and darted over to a bow in the air before him.
“Thank you, master, every blessing upon you, I hope you live forever, master!”
Shin looked around. “You’re bad at this.”
Flutter bit her lip as she held back the tirade in her heart. “It… it’s not easy.” She managed to stammer out without giving words to her true feelings, though her expression would have betrayed her to anyone normal.
Shin thought back to his few experiences with dungeons. “Don’t just have variants, put regular ones up first to wear down invaders. Choose difficult types. And set traps too. And keep more than two variants in the boss room since you’re weak.”
“A-anything else?” Flutter asked with bloodshot eyes.
“No. I’ll be back in a month, probably.”
“What?! Wai-”
The sound of Flutter’s voice faded as Shin found himself in a vast rocky highland and in the far distance stood a towering mountain range larger than the eye could see.
[Second Trial - Greed Mountain]
- 30 days -
‘Seek.’
Shin glanced at the notification and set off.